


Tea And Sympathy

by SE_Soignee (Soignee)



Series: Disconnect Universe [4]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 06:56:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12835704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soignee/pseuds/SE_Soignee
Summary: Oriana asks Commander Bailey to look after the Fish, and reaches a decision about errant boyfriends.(Stand alone story set offstage from the mainDisconnectstory.)





	Tea And Sympathy

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story from Oriana's POV, and takes place off stage from the main plot of _Disconnect_. It fits into the timeline around Chapter 11; it is also referenced in Chapter 15. It can be read alone.

It occurred to Oriana that she was standing by the intercom of a man who controlled most of C-Sec, and only wanted him to look after her boyfriend’s cat.

Kolyat said it was okay, of course. If she had to leave the Wards for work, then Bailey and Bats would take over Fish duties. Still, it felt strange to talk about cat litter trays and feeding schedules to someone who could bring the Citadel to a standstill if they wanted to.

The door slid open politely to reveal an off duty Commander Armando-Owen Bailey, a bowl of peanuts in his hands. He leaned against the frame to look at her, waiting for her to speak first. “Commander Bailey,” she said. "Sorry to arrive unannounced."

“Ms. Lee. Always a pleasure." He used the surname she kept for herself; Bailey was on the very short list of people who knew she was born a Lawson, but Oriana used her  _real_ parent’s name as her own. “What can I do for you?”

Oriana pushed back the hair that fell over her ear. “I can come at another time if I’m interrupting something. I was just in the area, and I thought-”

“You’re no trouble. I just got off work myself.” Bailey waved her in, offering her his bowl as she passed him. “Nut?”

“I’m, ah, good.”  

Bailey’s apartment was larger than Kolyat’s, but far more cluttered. The detritus of living with two kids littered the living room; a bioball under the coffee table, datapads Oriana recognised as a school brand on the floor, a sports jersey thrown over a chair. “You have your children over now?”

“Nah, they went back to their mom's yesterday. Sorry about the mess, things tend to explode when they’re around.”

“No problem, it’s tidier than mine.” Oriana smoothed her skirt, even though it was wrinkle free. “I’m here for a favour,” she said, wondering if she should take her boots off at the door like she did at Kol’s place. “About the Fish- the cat, I mean. I have to leave the Citadel soon, and…”

“Sit down, no need to hover.” He paused the biotic game on his vidscreen before he joined her on the opposite end of the couch. “You want something to drink? Can offer you some of that weird tea Kolyat likes, got some somewhere.”

She shook her head. “Water is fine, if you have it.”

“So. What else can I do for you, Ms. Lee?” His words were framed in such a _here to help_ C-Sec way that Oriana smiled. “You just want me to take your cat in? No problem.”

Orana bit her lip. “Mind if she stays at Kol’s instead of here? It’ll only stress her out if I move her. I know it’s a lot to ask, but Bats can’t do every day, and- well. You know.” She shrugged, a little embarrassed she was fussing over their cat so much. “She’ll probably ignore you anyway.”

Bailey handed her a bottle of water she had seen a thousand times before; a standard Alliance ration, ‘fresh’ from the springs of Horizon. “I can do that. I got the access codes already for the apartment, no need to send ‘em over.”

“There’s a VI for the vids, food and the litter tray. You’re mainly going to see if she’s okay.” _And that the apartment is not destroyed_ , she added silently. Fish liked to knock things over.

“Sounds like an easy job.” He looked her over before speaking, choosing his words with care. “You spoken to Kolyat recently? How’s he doing?”

Oriana laughed, though she wasn’t sure what was funny. “Last night over a holocall. He didn’t want to talk about anything much,” she said, voice a little too tight. “Maybe he’ll talk to you.”

She heard him mutter something before she could catch it, almost convinced it was _that boy._ “The Epiteia case ain’t exactly smooth sailing,” he said. “Or so I hear, anyway. It’s high profile; your boy’s got a lot of eyes on him right now.”

There was still the need to vindicate her feelings, but Oriana was very aware she was talking to her boyfriend’s boss. “That’s more than he’s told me,” she replied. “All I know is that there’s still an inquiry and he’s been sent away. Why’s he even there, anyway?”

Bailey looked at the portrait of his children over the vidscreen before he spoke. “Look, I ain’t defending him, but Kolyat’s doin’ it for the same reason I did with my family; he thinks he’s shielding you from something nasty. The things we see everyday, it’s hard to talk about.”

“I get it,” she said, voice tight. “I really do.”

It took a throat clear before he could speak again. “Sometimes the shit gets to you, if you’ll excuse my Galactic.”

Oriana had come here for a favour, not a lecture; she felt her own feelings were dismissed again, by another cop who thought his work should be at the centre of everything.

She fiddled with the cap of her water and took a deep breath to calm down. “Of course it does.”

Bailey didn’t get far in life without reading people, even if they were clever at hiding themselves. “You can say the rest,” he said. “Nothing I ain’t heard before.”

There were a hundred ways to voice her anger, but Oriana would not snap- not yet, anyway. “It’s not you. It’s him. You’re perfectly civil to me,” she replied.

Her words were enough for him to reach for his abandoned beer, too amused to reply with anything sensible. “Got a long list of people who’d disagree with you there, Ms. Lee. I’m sure your boy’s on it too.”

There was something about Bailey’s solid presence that picked away at the last of Oriana’s reserves, no matter how much she fought it. She remembered Kolyat saying that Bailey could get even hanar to sing in an interview room, that he had a gift at getting people to talk.

She put her head in her hands now, knowing she was going to tell Bailey everything. “It’s like talking to a wall with him,” she said.

He smiled at her. “More than usual, huh?”

Oriana lifted her head just enough to give him the side eye. “I’ve had better conversations with the cat. I do get it, I really do. Kol’s under a lot of stress with his job. But so am I. My work is not exactly easy either.”

It was the concise version of her thoughts, and she didn’t realise how much of a burden they were until she voiced them out loud. Who else could she speak to about this, anyway? None of her friends understood what C-Sec even was; some of her work colleagues thought Kolyat was bend by association, because _obviously_ all cops were dirty on the Citadel.

“Of course you are,” Bailey said. “If you don’t mind me saying, I get the feelin’ you two don’t talk much about this.”

She lifted her head, too stubborn to answer. What she wanted to say was that Kolyat’s job had taken over everything, that she was the afterthought. _He expects me to fit around him. He expects me to drop everything and curve my damn body around his and never tell him he’s in the wrong and-_

Bailey put his beer down before he spoke. “It’s hard on you, I know. You feel caught between him and his work.”

There was a very loaded pause before she spoke. “You could say that, yes.”

“He feels the same way, I guarantee it. I always say cops get two families; their squad and their homelife, and you have to answer to both if you want to stay sane.”

Oriana always thought Kol’s colleagues -especially the older officers from his deputy days- treated him like a little brother, even if Kolyat was scowling at them through two sets of eyelids.

“Right,” she said. “I don’t mind he has a family on the squad. Why would I? Vitacus and Bats are lovely people. I know he's fond of Hoorik, too."

Bailey grimaced, rubbing a hand through his stubble; it was long enough for her to hear the bristles protest at the action. “You’re still the most important thing in his life, I can tell you that for nothing. You’re his backup.”

All she could do was laugh. “So I have to hear that from someone else too, huh? Since he won’t tell me himself.” Oriana put her bottle of water on the table, wondering how the conversation had spiralled out of control so fast. “I should go,” she said, standing up. “Thank you for saying you’ll look in on Fish, it’s very kind of you.”

Oriana was halfway to the door before he spoke again. “We did him wrong, Ms. Lee.” The words made her stop in her tracks, unsure at what she heard. “C-Sec let Kolyat down. None of what’s happened to him is _his_ fault, I can tell you that. The inquiry, being sent away. None of it.”

She blinked at his words. There were rumours Bailey would be made Executor, even if the Council liked him where he was. That he was throwing his own system into the gutter to defend Kolyat made her face him again.

“I know you like him,” she said, quiet now. “But he’s not been the best of people to live with, especially now.”

“I get that. And of course I like Kolyat, why wouldn’t I? Ah, look. Sit down, I’ll make you the weird tea.” He patted her drooping shoulders as he passed her, just like he would a flagging recruit. “Come on, you look like you need a chat. We can do that, right? There’s time.”

For a moment she wondered what would happen if she left; if she just refused, leaving him alone. But a part of Oriana -that small tiny part that wanted Kol in her life without question- wanted Bailey to justify the alien man she was with.

“I can stay for awhile,” she said. “Tea sounds lovely.”

“We can work it out, whatever it is,” he said from the kitchen. Oriana followed him to stand in the doorway, arms wrapped around herself. “Even if you just need to vent.”

“A professional in listening?”

“Hey now, when it comes to talking about idiots I’m an expert,” he replied. “Especially Kolyat. For a detective he’s still too stupid to figure out what he has with you, even if all the evidence points to him being a dumbass.”

She laughed despite herself. “You make me sound like a suspect.”

Bailey wagged a finger at her. “You better not be the one that got away, or I’ll kick his ass myself.”

“Ah, not sure how I feel being a ‘perp’ in your analogy- I’ve done nothing wrong, officer.”

It was never that her boyfriend was a drell Oriana had an issue with -the sharp fins, the shed scales she found on her own skin like sequins, the memories, the venom, the clashing cultural misunderstandings- they were easily dealt with, small problems to solve.

No, it would always be the cop her boyfriend _was_ that bothered her the most. Every alien thing paled in comparison, and Oriana had reached her limit.

She stared at the floor, jaw tight; she would not cry for the bastard again, she did enough of it last night.

“Hey come on now, none of that.” A cup of tea was put in her hands. Bailey gently pushed her back to the comfort of the couch, another friendly pat on her shoulder.

There was silence and Oriana realised he was waiting for her to speak. She took a small sip of her tea before she did, and tasted the drell spice blend she and Kolyat liked in the mornings. “He’s an arse,” she said. Oriana leaned her head back, forcing the tears to go back where they come from. “I hate crying.”

Bailey offered her a tissue box. “If Kol was here he’d be real torn up he made you feel like this. You know he would.”

“Good.” She pushed her upset to one side, blowing her nose once. Oriana was done with crying, annoyed it ruined her make up. Her eyeliner was _especially_ excellent today, after all. “He can suffer.”

“I won’t say that I know him as well as you,” said Bailey, sitting next to her. “But I know enough to understand that when he was a kid, life wasn’t exactly the happiest. So when his C-Sec family failed him this month, it was a real kick in the crotch for your boy. He’s been a fool to you I know, but don’t push back too hard. It ain’t his fault- _this_ time, anyway.”

“I know what happened when he was young. And about his dad.” She always thought her boyfriend’s issues circled back to his father, no matter how far he wandered out to solve them.

“His old man tried at least- in the end,” he replied. She wasn’t convinced; Thane Krios was still around, an afterthought on Kolyat’s bookshelf. The static holo sat amongst the prayer books, his father passively looking away from camera. She never met the man, but Oriana thought he had the saddest of eyes.

“A good assassin, but an odd one,” Miranda had said of him. “Obsessed with his redemption- and his death, for that matter. Shepard loved him, though.”

Oriana drank her tea, wondering not for the first time what Thane Krios would think of her. “I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this,” she said. “I’m sorry, it’s not fair to you.” She knew why she was venting, of course- but there really was no one else to talk to.

Because Oriana could never tell her sister all her problems. “Why are you with him if he makes you cry?” Randa would ask, and Oriana would know that whatever she replied would be neatly argued away. ‘I love him’ was not a good enough answer for Miranda Lawson; apparently there was more to it than that.

Bailey waved away her apology, pleased she had opened up to him. “Talking to either of you is never an issue, you’re a great pair of kids. You’re good for each other, you know?”

“I’m 26. Kol’s 24.” She sat a little straighter and sipped her tea, amused at the misnomer. “We’re kids to you?”

“Yep.” Bailey grinned, crossing his arms. “You and Kol are good people. Just he needs to get it into that thick skull of his that it’s okay to talk to you. We both know you’d never tell a soul anyway.”

“I’m good at secrets,” she said. Oriana had plenty of her own to begin with. “But all he tells me is that it’s a bad day at most, and that’s that. I give him a hug and an hour later he’s my Kol again. But lately it feels like-”

She stopped, hands clenching her cup a little too tightly. No, no more crying. “I’m just meant to put up with this? Every time a case is bad, I have to deal with a mute wall of a boyfriend?”

Bailey grunted. Kolyat was due the scales of ass ripped off tomorrow anyway; he’d add ‘ _Not Talking To Oriana Like A Grown Up’_ onto the list of things to yell about. “You both learn from my mistakes, you hear? As I far as I can work out, you only get one shot at this.” He squinted at her, trying to place something. “You know, right?”

“Know what?” Oriana put her tea down, unsure what he meant.

“When I met Allie I knew.” Bailey looked at his beer, lost in his thoughts. “I was on shore leave with my squad; we were in the bright lights of New York City.”

“Never been,” she replied. “I’d like to.”

“Not much of it left now, but they’re rebuilding.” He smiled at her, though Oriana thought it was for the memory of Allie and not her. “All of us were in this bar- my friend drank so much he passed out.  Allie came up and put him on his side, called us idiots. All the while she was checking on my friend to see if was okay, and messaged for an ambulance while we struggled to find our asses with a map.”

“Smart,” she said. She had heard enough _Tales of the Drunk Tank_ from Kolyat to know what a monumental waste of resources alcohol caused on the Wards.

“Of course we weren’t,” he replied. “I told you I’m an expert on idiots. Anyway, she said that we were dumb pieces of shit for doing this every damn time she was off duty, and that we were all dumbfuck marines. I asked her for her number, she told me to fuck off.”

“Ouch,” she replied. “A little different to how I met Kol.”

“A Shepard party, right?” They were plural now, considering Shepard liked to throw them once a year; it became a habit.

“Yep. Three years ago.”

Bailey fiddled with his beer bottle, not quite bringing himself to peel the plastic label off just yet. “Time flies, doesn’t it? Seems like yesterday the Citadel was still over Earth, and yet- here we are.”

She lifted her mug of tea to toast against his beer. “To being here,” she said.

“To being here,” he said, returning the gesture. Oriana sat back on the couch, knowing he still had something to say. “Allie sat with me on the sidewalk while we waited for that ambulance. Got her number eventually,” he said, grinning. “It was worth the yelling.”

“I bet,” she replied. “I never met anyone like Kolyat before. He was this caustic, antagonistic bastard that just made me want to argue with him about everything. He still does, really.”

He snorted his reply first, finally pushing aside his mangled beer bottle. “That I can believe.”

“After the party we just walked, talking about everything and nothing. Didn’t matter he was different, just that he was-” Oriana stopped, embarrassed. “Well. Just that he _was_ , really. I’m glad I went that night.”

“You just know,” he replied, nudging her with his shoulder.  Bailey looked at the holo-portrait of his family again, of his daughter and son smiling at the camera. Allie was absent from the image; she knew from Kolyat they had separated, and Oriana tried to keep the surge of pity she felt out of her gaze.

“I do love him,” she said. “But he’s an idiot. He’s _my_ idiot- but still an idiot.”

He chuckled, arms crossed again. “Ain’t denyin’ that. Might not have worked out between me and Allie, but we got _The Monsters_ from it,” he said, nodding to the portrait. “They keep me going.”

She stared at the holo with him; his children were blue eyed like their dad, and their smiles were infectious. “They look like good kids.”

Bailey snorted before he replied.  “They’re trouble is what they are. The oldest cuts himself into pieces if he gets anything less then a B, and the youngest wants nothin’ to do with school. She wants to join the Alliance, I told her she still needs the grades- but do you think she listens to her old man? _Hah._ Wants to be a Shepard. They all do now.”

In the grand scheme of things, Oriana thought his words were quaint; she saw just as many broken families as Kolyat did, thanks to her job. There was more to homing refugees then cutting ribbons and plastering over bullet holes. “Sounds like a good kind of trouble,” she said. “If you don’t mind me saying.”

He laughed, pleased at her words. “I don’t. We all fought to make sure they can still squabble over homework and bitch about the barista getting their fancy iced coffee wrong, you know? Shit, the galaxy might still be broken, but at least it’s ours.”

“I know. It’s still going to take a lot to mend, though.” She looked away, avoiding his gaze.

Bailey was unsure what Oriana meant. “Look, Allie was like you. She had her own career when she was with me. Worked as a bioscan technician- not a stay at home sort. It helped that she was in first response, like you are; you both know how the world works. But there’s still a limit, I know there is. And I pushed her away, because-”

He stopped, unsure how to finish his thoughts. “We don’t have to,” she said. “It’s enough you listened to me.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Just remembering. Kolyat ain’t the only one with a long memory.”

She took a final sip of her lukewarm tea. “I always know when he goes off into his thoughts. I used to say, ‘where did you go? You went somewhere.’ Now I just let it pass. Feel like a broken VI saying it everyday.”

“Man, I bet. When I worked with him it was useful, though. Used to use that brain of his like a terminal, he hated it. Always asking where things are, what the witness looked like, where my datapad was. Used to drive him nuts.”

“I do the same,” she replied, using a sing-song voice that made him smile. “Sometimes I just do it to wind him up.”

Oriana felt such a stab of longing, then. Her recollection might not be eidetic, but she still had a sharp mind; her own memories flashed in teal and green scales, a rare smile creasing a plated face. _Honestly, Ori. Do humans forget every little thing?_

“He can take the abuse,” Bailey said.

“He can,” she replied, laughing. Oriana was smiling again. She knew she would forgive him.

He was still an idiot, but she knew he would apologise again, and this time she would hear it.  

“You good?” he asked, tilting his beer at her.

She pretending to think about it. “I will be.”

Oriana excused herself to the bathroom, annoyed her 400 credit eyeshadow had smudged. “How is this cry-proof?” she asked her reflection, trying to right her liner with a finger.

He had switched on his game again, though muted the sound when she came out. “Everything okay?”

“Thank you for the tea and the talk,” she said, not quite returning back to her spot on the couch. “Sorry I fell apart on you.”

This time the vidscreen was switched off, and Bailey rose to meet her again. “You come by anytime- you’ve always got a friend here.” Oriana smiled at his offered hand.

“Friends can have a hug,” Oriana replied, and ignored the gesture to pull the older man into her arms. “Thanks again, Bailey.”

“Glad I could help.” She was squeezed once before he let her go. “I’ll be a gentleman and walk you to the door.”

Bailey wouldn’t let her leave without one last defence of the man she already pardoned. “Kolyat might be one of life’s detectives,” he told her. “But he’s still good people. You both are.”

Oriana shrugged. “It would be a lot less stressful if we both knew it,” she said. “Perhaps I’ll tell him.”

Bailey waved at the haptic interface once to open the door. “Honestly, how you two ended up together is one of the universe’s mysteries all in itself. Kolyat is punching well above his weight with you.”

It was not the first time something similar was said; not because Kolyat was an alien, of course; mostly because he was, well, _Kolyat_.

“Oh I’m just as bad,” she said. “Only I’m better at hiding it.” Oriana waggled her brows over her shoulder, though Bailey didn’t believe a word of what she said. “Later, Bailey. Thanks again.”

The lights of Zakera beckoned. Instead of heading home, Oriana went to the nearest tram station. Two paths lay ahead of her now; technically she was out of office an entire week, but Kellam had dropped a not so heavy hint about Epiteia yesterday, and… well.

There was the matter of her boyfriend, a stranger in a strange land. After a quick flick of her omni-tool Oriana smoothed her dress down; she knew she would get Kolyat’s _Do Not Disturb_ ID, but decided to leave a message anyway- if the technology would let her.

“Hey Kol. Just to let you know I’m off the Citadel soon. I’m going to be taking you up on your offer- I always wanted to swim in a lake. Anyway, I don't know when I can get to speak to you, commlines are out again on half the Wards, goddamn Citcast. I should see you in maybe a day or so.”

As soon as she mentioned the comms, of course the line began to stutter. “Bailey and Bats are on Fish duties. There’s a rota and everything,” she said, and her onmi-tool crumbled into orange fuzz soon after.

“Why, technology, why.” Oriana poked at the interface again, trying to to get it to function. “ _Work.”_

The audio was switched on still, even if the vid interface had dropped. “Anyway. You’re still an arsehole," she said. “But we should probably have one of those conversations we’ve been avoiding when we’re in the same system. See you soon.”

 _“It might be easy to forgive, but it’s harder to forget,”_ Kolyat told her once. Oriana Lee was thankful for the myopic mess of human recollection, but memories of her bio father were still crystal clear. Oriana might still wake up sobbing in the middle of the night, but time was kinder to her memory than it was to Kolyat’s.

The anger she had felt floated above her and dissipated, buoyed insteaded by a hope that they could fix themselves, that they were worth the effort. _Things worth keeping_ , she thought, and hummed a phrase from Nielsen’s Fifth.

It was something Kolyat often said to her; holding her when a nightmare came, when her own work made her sad and _she_ was in the one in need of comfort, when a project was keeping her from sanity and a colony was in danger of losing funds.

_You just know._

Oriana would see him again, and soon.

  



End file.
